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Five Things Buddy Hooper Learned Before He Was Ten Years Old That Shaped His Life.
Five Things Buddy Hooper Learned Before He Was Ten Years Old That Shaped His Life.
It is not my desire to get you to think like me, but it is my desire to get you to think! Buddy Hooper
I was born in a small East Texas town where everyone knew each other, and when anyone needed help, the whole community pitched in.
First Lesson in Business: My family had a farm. It wasn't quite like Old McDonald's farm, but close. They raised cotton, cattle, hogs, chickens, and all kinds of vegetables, fruits, nuts, etc. They would let me take our eggs to the store to trade them for items we didn't raise or grow; at least, I thought I was trading them. But actually, I was leaving them on consignment. The store had about 15 buckets where they would display the eggs and would credit my family's account when they sold. Hens often laid eggs in mud, etc., making them dirty and unappealing and none of the eggs had been washed. After seeing that, I started washing our eggs, and our clean eggs sold out first. My family even increased the number of our laying hens. I don't remember anyone else figuring out why our eggs sold so well. Though I didn't know anything about business then, looking back, I realize this was my first taste of business, and it taught me the importance of standing out from the crowd and that small details are essential for success.
Understanding People: I remember exactly where I was when someone a little older than I told me the Japanese had shot down the largest American flag. This was devastating because we said the Pledge of Allegiance every morning, and the flag represented America to me. A little later, I learned they were talking about the bombing of Pearl Harbor. I didn't know what a dictator was and couldn't understand why anyone would do such a thing, and this started my quest to understand people and their capacity for such awful actions.
Individuality Over Group Identity: I learned at a very young age that I couldn't learn much from others my age, so I stayed close to my parents and other adults. Often, my dad had friends over to play dominoes and discuss various topics. Once, they talked about someone running for some office, and even though they agreed they were terrible, all said they planned to vote for them. I didn't understand this, so I asked my dad why. He said, "You will understand later." To this day, I don't understand. But I decided then that it's not about the group a person belongs to; it's about the individual.
Empathy and Helping Others: My family didn't raise horses, but we had some for riding, pulling wagons, and plowing. One was a beautiful dark red stallion named Rex. Whenever a mare was nearby, he would go nuts trying to get to her. My younger brother and I would ride him bareback after climbing onto a fence to get on him. He was always calm with us, even with a mare around. I was devastated when the bank took Rex and our cows and horses because we couldn't pay the loan. I couldn't understand why the bankers wouldn't accept what we grew as others did as payment. This experience instilled in me a desire to help others avoid similar situations. I believe in the Chinese Proverb, "Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime." I believe in helping others help themselves.
Thinking Outside the Box: Very few people had electricity, running water, inside toilets, etc., and we sure did not. My dad rigged a windmill on the top of our house, connected a car generator (now called an alternator) to a car battery inside, and hooked it up to a car radio. My mother would prepare a large meal every Saturday, and neighbors would come over. We all huddled around the radio to listen to the Grand Ole Opry broadcast from Nashville, Tennessee, with Roy Acuff signing the Great Speckled Bird and The Wabash Cannonball and Dave Macon singing Keep My Skillet Good and Greasy, and Fiddling' Arthur Smith with Beautiful Brown Eyes. Even today, each time I see someone with brown eyes, it reminds me of those times. This taught me the value of thinking outside the box, and how important that is.